Asian undocumented youth will have a lot to gain from deferred action by Obama

by Ruxandra Guidi

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Student Dream Act supporters react after the Senate voted down the DREAM Act on December 18, 2010 Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

California is home to the majority of undocumented Asian DREAM Act students who can now apply for the new administrative relief introduced by the White House. Asian Americans make up 12 percent of the estimated 800,000 such students nationwide.

In an effort to help this segment of the population, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center will be assisting immigrants in a variety of languages, including Chinese, Khmer, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.

Mexican DREAMer, Neidi Dominguez, came up with the current concept of administrative relief for young undocumented immigrants. She’s a grassroots organizer, who says she credits the Asian Pacific Legal Center for its lobbying efforts in Washington.

“And then three weeks ago, we were able to really show the administration that they could no longer argue that this was not possible," says Dominguez. "That they had clear authority to respond and that they had clear authority to grant administrative relief.”

The new administrative relief will begin implementation in 60 days.

In the meantime, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center is asking DREAMers to collect their immigration paperwork and consult a lawyer to make sure they’re eligible.